Ask a Mailman (City Letter Carrier) anything

1237 Questions

Last Answer on February 18, 2022

lost a certified in outgoing mail, when came back from route will it come in dps or back to post office. could they discipline me or just let it go if the letter turns up

Asked by jvitto48 over 10 years ago

I would hope they let it go, but I can't say for sure what will happen to you. It should come back in the DPS or via your registry clerk. Hopefully it won't just disappear. I haven't heard of anybody being disciplined for this, but I work in a pretty small environment and don't know what happens in other offices. I hope it shows up, works out for you, and learn to be a bit more careful in the future with the accountable mail.

548 Votes

If you go to deliver mail but see there is a For Sale sign out by the mailbox will you keep the mail or still deliver it to the mailbox?

Asked by G-hoard over 10 years ago

When a house is for sale, I will continue to deliver mail there unless the current owner/occupant has moved out and I don't see a new name on incoming mail. In this case, I mark any incoming "resident" mail as "vacant" and either discard it or return it to the sender depending on the class of mail. Once I see a new name on incoming mail, I commence delivery to that house. I don't know if this is the correct procedure, but it seems to work out fine. Thanks for writing.

546 Votes

Has the mail already been delivered on Stonesboro Rd Ft Washington Maryland today 4/8/2016

Asked by Sophia Woodland over 9 years ago

As I'm writing this reply on April 12, I'm pretty sure that the mail has been delivered on stonesboro rd in ft Washington, MD by now for April 8. ???? This q and a isn't for USPS customer service or any real-time questions. I mostly answer questions about being a letter carrier and possibly make suggestions if someone has a customer service problem that doesn't need immediate attention. With regards to your question, I think that only your local PO would know when and if mail was delivered to your street.

546 Votes

What's the best shoes you say would be best for a CC also I wear size 15

Asked by Mr. OKC almost 10 years ago

Getting that large size shoe may require a custom order. I was just at the website for US Uniform Company. One of the items I looked up only went as high as size 14. I only looked at one type of shoe. I buy Rocky or New Balance Black leather low top athletic shoes for walking. They will have the mandated SR/USA tag if purchased through an authorized uniform vendor. I can't say any one shoe is better than the other since I don't recall every being uncomfortable in any of them. I don't remember the brand but some definitely wore out faster than others resulting in an expensive (usually more than $100/pair) replacement order. I probably go through at least 2 pair of shoes per year and walk about 5 miles per day on my route, 351 residential deliveries to their door.

546 Votes

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What steps should I take if a postal carrier overlooked my mail

Asked by shakita over 10 years ago

Shakita, I'm not sure what you mean by the postal carrier overlooked the mail. Do you mean that they looked inside it when they shouldn't have? If you know this for sure, I'd call or visit your nearby PO and speak with a delivery supervisor. It would seem hard to prove though I don't know the details in your case. If you meant that the postal carrier overlooked an outgoing piece of mail and forgot to take it, I'd recommend making it very visible to them next time and if it becomes a problem, please leave a note saying "please take outgoing mail. Thank you". I hope I have answered your question whichever way you intended it.

544 Votes

I mailed a check to the wrong address and placed it in my building's mailbox for pickup by the mailman, once the mailman comes for pick up will he be able to allow me to retrieve my mail?

Asked by Kimberlee about 10 years ago

I am not sure if the mailman will allow this since many of us act differently than others and we are rarely told of any rules (if any exist) regarding this situation. If I were your letter carrier and I knew you (or you could positively ID who you were) and the mail was easy to find in the outgoing mailbox I'd have no problem allowing you to retrieve that mail. I don't know how full your building mailbox gets. Some buildings just have a few pieces of mail left for pickup. Others are overflowing with outgoing mail. As I answer with many questions on this question board, "It depends". The consistency within the USPS is quite inconsistent.

543 Votes

I buy and sell tickets for a living. If I had tickets shipped to several of my neighbors in random people's names would you be able to retrieve them for me if I gave you advance warning of their delivery or is that illegal?

Asked by mandm almost 11 years ago

I am not sure of the legality of this, but I know I would never get involved in such a situation. I wouldn't get mail from one address and give the mail to another person especially if it had a random name. It all sounds too fishy to me. When I'm delivering the mail if I see a name that I'm familiar with but the address is not right I will sometimes deliver it to the correct address. An example that I see but am not comfortable with is one customer gets what looks like beer purchase rebate checks sent to his neighbor's house with a slightly altered last name. If I recognize this mail I will deliver to the person whose name is on the envelope. The customer has never approached me to do this and I would never have any apologies if the rebate check was delivered as addressed (to a neighbor) and disappeared. Again, it's something I would never want to be involved with because it sounds fishy and if I am not working I can't control what happens to an intentionallay misaddrressed or misnamed piece of mail. If you work something out with your neighbor that's another story which I don't need to know about. Thanks for writing.

543 Votes

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Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

lost a certified in outgoing mail, when came back from route will it come in dps or back to post office. could they discipline me or just let it go if the letter turns up

If you go to deliver mail but see there is a For Sale sign out by the mailbox will you keep the mail or still deliver it to the mailbox?

Has the mail already been delivered on Stonesboro Rd Ft Washington Maryland today 4/8/2016

What's the best shoes you say would be best for a CC also I wear size 15

Also on Jobstr...

What steps should I take if a postal carrier overlooked my mail

I mailed a check to the wrong address and placed it in my building's mailbox for pickup by the mailman, once the mailman comes for pick up will he be able to allow me to retrieve my mail?

I buy and sell tickets for a living. If I had tickets shipped to several of my neighbors in random people's names would you be able to retrieve them for me if I gave you advance warning of their delivery or is that illegal?

Mailman (City Letter Carrier)

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

lost a certified in outgoing mail, when came back from route will it come in dps or back to post office. could they discipline me or just let it go if the letter turns up

If you go to deliver mail but see there is a For Sale sign out by the mailbox will you keep the mail or still deliver it to the mailbox?

Has the mail already been delivered on Stonesboro Rd Ft Washington Maryland today 4/8/2016

What's the best shoes you say would be best for a CC also I wear size 15

Also on Jobstr...

What steps should I take if a postal carrier overlooked my mail

I mailed a check to the wrong address and placed it in my building's mailbox for pickup by the mailman, once the mailman comes for pick up will he be able to allow me to retrieve my mail?

I buy and sell tickets for a living. If I had tickets shipped to several of my neighbors in random people's names would you be able to retrieve them for me if I gave you advance warning of their delivery or is that illegal?

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